GCRN – Page 2 – RUDDINGTON.info

Record Breaking Train Reaches Ruddington

16th July 202117th July 2021 Graham Wright

In October 2019 RUDDINGTON.info reported that two former Midland Mainline Inter-City 125 Powercars would be coming to GCRN – Great Central Railway (Nottingham) on a permanent basis thanks to leasing company Porterbrook. As planned, high speed trains 43048 and 43089 were both duly handed over The 125 Group at the end of their careers with East Midlands Trains to be based in Ruddington – with the intention of running passenger trips between the Heritage Centre and Loughborough (eventually to Leicester North). We understand they are still in storage. Meantime, their eventual arrival here has been trumped…

Forward Thinking at Ruddington’s Railway

9th July 202110th July 2021 Graham Wright

A brand new fund to develop one of Nottinghamshire’s leading heritage attractions has been launched in our village today (Friday 9th July). ‘The Forward Fund’ aims to provide new visitor facilities, including a new station building at ‘The Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre’ in Ruddington. It will also raise money to upgrade tracks and bridges on the nine mile section of the historic Great Central Railway through the county. Guest of honour for the launch was Rushcliffe MP, Ruth Edwards – who is a patron of The East Midlands Railway Trust (EMRT), the…

Heritage Railway’s ‘Money Match March’

20th March 202113th May 2021 Graham Wright

Whilst villagers and visitors eagerly await the reopening of Ruddington’s Great Central Railway (Nottingham) attractions post ‘lockdown’, which is due to start on April 12th, there’s a major fundraising drive this month to rejoin the tracks between Ruddington and Leicester North. As the Reunification Appeal continues, during March, every pound you give, either online, by existing or newly established standing order – or by cheque through the post – will be matched pound for pound, up to £100,000, by a mystery donor. Railway volunteers are reporting that already tens of…

Further Vandalism at Our Heritage Railway

2nd February 20213rd February 2021 Graham Wright

Volunteers at Great Central Railway Nottingham (GCRN) now have some more unexpected and unwelcome work to do after trespassers at the Ruddington site decided to spray graffiti onto one of the 125 Group‘s recently restored MK3 coaches. The Heritage Centre is already facing great financial challenges thanks to the Coronavirus – having been unable to run any passenger services from there since the February half-term last year. Whilst not on the scale of the vandalism in 2019, it’s still very upsetting and disheartening for all those involved. This latest, mindless act was discovered…

Canal Bridge Completed

7th July 20207th July 2020 Graham Wright

From Loughborough comes news that a major two-day operation at the start of this month has ‘all but’ finished the overhaul of the elegant Victorian railway bridge which spans the Grand Union Canal in the town. The relevance of this restoration for our village is that it marks another step forward for the eighteen mile heritage line vision between Ruddington and Leicester North by reconnecting the currently separate sections of tracks operated by volunteers from our own Great Central Railway – Nottingham (GCRN) and Loughborough’s Great Central Railway (GCR). Built in the…

Stay Off the Tracks!

22nd May 202022nd May 2020 Graham Wright

Managers at Ruddington’s heritage railway centre have issued a trespass warning – after reports that a number of people have been walking along their tracks between here and East Leake. It seems the problem started as villagers sought out longer, ‘socially distanced’ walks when exercise restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak were eased. It also appears to have been exacerbated by an online video blog recommending this activity – for which the blogger has since apologised. It’s clear that she, and others taking to the empty tracks, didn’t…

Iconic ‘Railbus’ for Ruddington

20th January 20203rd September 2020 Graham Wright

Ruddington’s Great Central Railway (Nottingham) has revealed that the latest addition to its heritage fleet should mean it will able to run trains here all year ’round. Please see the September 2020 update below*. Currently services are operated by its volunteers only through the summer, in the lead-up to Christmas and over some other half-term holiday periods**. However, the imminent arrival of a Class 144 DMU Railcar (144003) from Porterbrook, to become preserved for heritage use, could see services increasing to 52 weekends a year. Once it’s released from mainline duties during the first…

More Vandalism at GCRN

8th August 20199th August 2019 Graham Wright

It seems vandals have struck again at our heritage railway centre. Nottinghamshire Police are reporting that, over the past few nights, a total of six windows over a number of carriages have been broken at Ruddington’s Great Central Railway – Nottingham. The latest, mindless attack comes as railway volunteers are still trying to raise funds to fix the estimated £80,000 of damage caused there by vandalism just over three months ago. On that occasion two boys were arrested in connection with the incident. It also resulted in the setting up of a dedicated fundraising…

Bombs to Butterflies Revisited

20th June 201922nd June 2019 Graham Wright

Older Ruddingtonians will remember the days before Rushcliffe Country Park – when this sizeable area of the village was used as an Ordnance Storage and Disposal Depot. Our senior citizens will perhaps have even earlier memories – when it housed a bomb-filling factory during the Second World War. In 2003, a book called ‘Bombs to Butterflies’ was published by The Ruddington History Society and The Friends of Rushcliffe Country Park. It was edited by Margaret Lawson and told the history of the area from wartime up to when it became a…

Arrests Made After Railway Vandalism

2nd May 20192nd May 2019 Graham Wright

Nottinghamshire Police say they have arrested two boys in connection with the criminal damage at Ruddington’s Great Central Railway site on Monday (29th April). Volunteers at our village heritage centre have estimated that the attack – reportedly involving around half a dozen young people who smashed a total of 112 windows on various items of coaching stock and two diesel railcars – will cost around £80,000 to repair. They were then disturbed by a volunteer and are believed to have fled on bikes toward Rushcliffe Country Park. It has prompted dismay and…